Spring break, April. We spent a week on Maui at the Fairmont Kea Lani Resort in a two-bedroom villa (with its own plunge pool on the private patio), just vacated by David Hasselhoff. We could still smell his cigar smoke. We figured, his kids were probably on spring break, too. We enjoyed the plunge pool, enjoyed the beach, enjoyed the pool, and enjoyed the company of friends.
But the problem with being on Maui is, it made me relax and forget how to do a lot of things. Alas, blogging went by the wayside.
And what a time to stop blogging! One quick note about the Republicans last week, but for the rest of April and May, I let the pundits and the comedians do the commentary.
However, today I have to try to jump in again. Tom DeLay has left office, prompting a lawsuit mania as the Democrats try to prevent him from one last evasion. The #2 Al-Queda guy in Iraq is dead, which has to strike a mighty blow to the terrorists. Tim Eyman failed to get enough signatures for his initiative to neutralize the gay rights bill that took affect this week in the state of Washington. The World Cup has started, but that really just means a little more variety in the sports coverage at night. Even the spousal unit, an expatriat Ozzie, doesn't pull for Australia in it. The Republicans, who are starting to remind me a bit of Nero fiddling while Rome was burning, wanted to waste time in the Senate debating Constitutional rights banning gay marriage (defeated quickly), flag burning (not that anyone does that any more in this country!) and the ever popular "death tax."
And we went to Disneyland to celebrate an offspring's 10th birthday, and experience the magic of the 50th Anniversary. I will try to find time to blog that trip, but for now let me say, it was fabulous.
Now school is almost out for us, the next two weeks packed with activities, and I've forgotten what it's like to get a good night's sleep....
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Thursday, May 25, 2006
And the walls came tumblin' down...
The Bush administration is scrambling. With a plunging approval rating, and attacks within his own party, the president is in trouble.
Part of me, as an anti-Bushie, wants to rejoice. But the other part, the patriot and American, is sad. Sad, because I believe that, as the elected leader, the president should have the support of the citizens whenever possible. And sad, because this president has done nothing to improve the well-being of the nation, but done many things to destroy it.
With a tax cut that primarily benefits the wealthy, a war that WE started, for the first time in the history of the nation, an inability to defeat the true enemy, terrorism, a hiring pattern of rewarding loyalty instead of competence, and a single-minded determination to destroy the environment, there is little or nothing about this president that I don't find embarrassing.
About the only thing I find I like about this president is that his kids act like normal kids.
I am sure he is a congenial, nice person to meet. But so is my postal carrier, but I don't think that alone qualifies him to be president.
I am so afraid for this nation right now. Afraid that the current people in power, in all branches of the government, will so abandon the good of the country as to become irreparable. Afraid that the people will continue to ignore what's happening, and not stand up and demand that the elected officials whose salaries we pay be held accountable for abandoning the good of the country.
Part of me, as an anti-Bushie, wants to rejoice. But the other part, the patriot and American, is sad. Sad, because I believe that, as the elected leader, the president should have the support of the citizens whenever possible. And sad, because this president has done nothing to improve the well-being of the nation, but done many things to destroy it.
With a tax cut that primarily benefits the wealthy, a war that WE started, for the first time in the history of the nation, an inability to defeat the true enemy, terrorism, a hiring pattern of rewarding loyalty instead of competence, and a single-minded determination to destroy the environment, there is little or nothing about this president that I don't find embarrassing.
About the only thing I find I like about this president is that his kids act like normal kids.
I am sure he is a congenial, nice person to meet. But so is my postal carrier, but I don't think that alone qualifies him to be president.
I am so afraid for this nation right now. Afraid that the current people in power, in all branches of the government, will so abandon the good of the country as to become irreparable. Afraid that the people will continue to ignore what's happening, and not stand up and demand that the elected officials whose salaries we pay be held accountable for abandoning the good of the country.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
I can't believe Tom DeLay is gone...
And it's only taken, like, two years!
I thought it would never happen. I figured that DeLay was so powerful he'd find some way to weasel out of the charges being lobbed at him (way to mix the metaphors, eh?) and run for president. But, lo and behold, he actually figured out, for himself, that running for re-election might be a bad thing.
In a way, it's too bad for the Democrats. With DeLay running, they stood a chance of swaying enough voters to get a predominantly Republican (oh, wait -- all the Texas districts are predominantly Republican, thanks to Tom DeLay and his federal help to the Texas Republicans...but wasn't that against federal law? Guess not, nothing ever came of it...) district to elect a Democrat. Now the Republican party will find a new candidate.
All this is good for 22nd district -- they, like all Americans, deserve to choose between two ethical candidates, and not be represented by someone who abuses his power.
Which brings me to another point. I never will understand why the Republicans didn't go running, screaming, away from DeLay. This is a party that embraces conservative values. One of those values, I have always thought, was a strict adherence to the law. Tom DeLay, as majority leader, was censured twice for unethical behavior. When he campaigned for my current representative, I spoke out about it.
Still, I thought that, even with the apparent atmosphere of corruption in his office, as evidenced by recent revelations by former staff members, that he would find some way of letting it wash around him without touching him.
The United States Congress, indeed the whole government, should act with dignity and in accordance with the law. Certainly that is no less than is expected of the average citizen. I am glad the Tom DeLay has chosen not to run again for office. Whatever the outcome of the indictments facing him, the Congress is better off without him.
I try not to speak harshly about people, only their points of view. But nothing makes me madder than a Christian who spouts "Christian ethics" and turns out to be breaking the very rules he is elected to uphold.
I thought it would never happen. I figured that DeLay was so powerful he'd find some way to weasel out of the charges being lobbed at him (way to mix the metaphors, eh?) and run for president. But, lo and behold, he actually figured out, for himself, that running for re-election might be a bad thing.
In a way, it's too bad for the Democrats. With DeLay running, they stood a chance of swaying enough voters to get a predominantly Republican (oh, wait -- all the Texas districts are predominantly Republican, thanks to Tom DeLay and his federal help to the Texas Republicans...but wasn't that against federal law? Guess not, nothing ever came of it...) district to elect a Democrat. Now the Republican party will find a new candidate.
All this is good for 22nd district -- they, like all Americans, deserve to choose between two ethical candidates, and not be represented by someone who abuses his power.
Which brings me to another point. I never will understand why the Republicans didn't go running, screaming, away from DeLay. This is a party that embraces conservative values. One of those values, I have always thought, was a strict adherence to the law. Tom DeLay, as majority leader, was censured twice for unethical behavior. When he campaigned for my current representative, I spoke out about it.
Still, I thought that, even with the apparent atmosphere of corruption in his office, as evidenced by recent revelations by former staff members, that he would find some way of letting it wash around him without touching him.
The United States Congress, indeed the whole government, should act with dignity and in accordance with the law. Certainly that is no less than is expected of the average citizen. I am glad the Tom DeLay has chosen not to run again for office. Whatever the outcome of the indictments facing him, the Congress is better off without him.
I try not to speak harshly about people, only their points of view. But nothing makes me madder than a Christian who spouts "Christian ethics" and turns out to be breaking the very rules he is elected to uphold.
Friday, March 17, 2006
March Madness
It's March, and time once again for the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. And it's not March Madness without my two cents.
I don't have a winner picked this year, since my perennial favorite, Purdue, isn't in it. But it's good to see that, once again, we are reminded of just why single-elimination tournaments are so much fun to watch: anything can happen.
Already there have been "upsets;" that is, teams have been losing that weren't predicted to lose. Since those predictions are generally subjective, there is a certain satisfaction in seeing them proved wrong.
Basketball really is a game that can be won by a team that is not loaded with talent, but heart. And by a small school that doesn't have deep pockets for extracurricular sports.
I don't have a winner picked this year, since my perennial favorite, Purdue, isn't in it. But it's good to see that, once again, we are reminded of just why single-elimination tournaments are so much fun to watch: anything can happen.
Already there have been "upsets;" that is, teams have been losing that weren't predicted to lose. Since those predictions are generally subjective, there is a certain satisfaction in seeing them proved wrong.
Basketball really is a game that can be won by a team that is not loaded with talent, but heart. And by a small school that doesn't have deep pockets for extracurricular sports.
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